In this first, rather lengthy letter from Sumner, K.T., Ingalls recorded his "impressions" of St. Louis, Missouri, and detailed the combination rail and steamboat trip across Missouri to Kansas Territory. St. Louis had "a hasty, unfinished appearance," from Ingalls's perspective, and "So much filth and poverty. . . ." He was delighted to leave that city and soon road the "Pacific Railroad" as far as Herman, Missouri, where he boarded the steamer "Duncan S. Carter," which is described in some detail, along with the trip up river. Ingalls arrived at his Kansas destination on Monday, October 4, 1858.